2002 Eastern Europe and Central Asia Microfinance Analysis and Benchmarking Report
Despite the microfinance institutions (MFIs) in Eastern Europe and Central Asia (ECA) being relatively young when compared to the rest of the world, their financial performance is amongst the strongest. This report assesses the performance of the ECA MFIs using the industry standard performance metrics.
The report groups the MFIs into peer groups by charter type, sustainability and size of operations, and allows for comparisons among like institutions to analyze the impact of different factors on institutional performance. The report uses the following sections analyze the varying performance of ECA institutions:
- Scale and outreach;
- Financial structure;
- Profitability and sustainability;
- Revenue;
- Expense;
- Efficiency and productivity;
- Portfolio quality.
In conclusion, the paper states that the speed with which ECA microfinance has achieved financial self-sufficiency is of importance and many lessons can be learnt from it:
- The sector's profitability stems from the region's strong credit culture, skilled staff, and tightly controlled loan portfolios;
- The ECA MFIs dedicate more resources to their loan portfolio, their most lucrative asset, than their global peers.
